D.A. Says DuBose Shooting Justified

SAN DIEGO (AP) _ The shooting of former NFL player Demetrius DuBose by police officers in July has been ruled legally justified by the district attorney, the police chief said today.

The district attorney concluded that DuBose, 28, was advancing on one of the officers with a martial arts weapon when they shot him 12 times, chief David Bejarano said in a statement.

``I believe that the district attorney’s findings are correct, and that the officers involved in the shooting were justified in their actions,″ Bejarano said.

District attorney Paul Pfingst’s finding means no criminal charges will be filed against the two officers, Timothy Keating and Robert Wills, who have been on desk duties since the July 24 shooting.

The shooting now will be reviewed by the Police Department’s internal affairs unit and San Diego’s Citizen Review Board on Police Practices, Bejarano said.

The shooting of DuBose, who was black, by two white officers led to a series of protests and accusations of racial bias against the Police Department.

DuBose’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the two officers, claiming they used excessive force.

Police said DuBose charged at the officers after taking away one officer’s nunchukas, a martial arts weapon of two wooden sticks joined by a short chain or rope. Officers had twice chased and tackled DuBose before firing, police said.

An autopsy report showed that DuBose had traces of the drug Ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol in his blood at the time.

Witnesses have said DuBose was not a threat to officers, according to the family’s lawyer, Brian Watkins.

DuBose was a linebacker for Notre Dame. After graduating, he was drafted in 1993 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played four seasons. When his football career ended in 1997, he took up beach volleyball.